Start at UMBC & Go Everywhere (UMBC Magazine Fall 2018)

UMBC may be nestled in the small town of Catonsville, but over the
years the university has become a crossroads of international research,
civic engagement, and a welcome center to anyone pursuing the life of a
global citizen.

But, what makes UMBC such an international campus? The famous flags
in The Commons? The answer is much deeper than that. It’s a commitment
to envisioning an inclusive path dependent on intercultural
collaboration that has created a thriving world of possibilities through
which to engage in all the world has to offer.

UMBC’s windows-to-the-world philosophy has caught the attention of some big names recently. Times Higher Education
recognized UMBC as one of the world’s top young universities, and The
Center for World University Rankings recognized us as one of the top 3.5
percent of all universities worldwide. Most recently, the Professionals in International Education (PIE) included UMBC as the only U.S. finalist for a 2018 PIEoneer Award, in the Student Support category.

Accolades aside, one thing is for sure — if you start at UMBC, you
can go anywhere because you will have all the support that you need. So,
feel free to move around the world.

You Are Welcome Here

True Grit welcomes all to UMBC

UMBC’s visual connection to the world begins where visitors first set
foot on campus: on the bricks of the Administration Building drop off
circle. There, hellos in dozens of languages — from “Witamy” in Polish
to 欢迎 in Mandarin — make it clear that all are welcome. Walking down
Academic Row, you can hear what a global campus sounds like — from
President Hrabowski practicing his French with faculty from the
Caribbean, to students and faculty sharing conversations in English,
Korean, Hindi, Hebrew, Urdu, Spanish, Igbo, and Italian, just to name a
few.

Students share their talents at PANGEA, an annual cultural showcase.

International pride is most evident in The Commons, where 156 flags
hang to represent the countries our students come from; it is also the
home of 26 cultural and ethnic student organizations. Over the last
decade around 1,000 international students have made UMBC their home,
both for short- and long-term study.

“We have a group of Japanese students attending in the spring for
intensive English training and community service projects. In the summer
we will host a group of high school students from the United Arab
Emirates for a three week STEM and English Academy,” explains Sarah Gardenghi,
director of the English Language Institute, which offers customized
English language instruction. “Each of our programs focuses on the needs
of the international student so they feel at home at UMBC, safe in our
community, and connected with our students, faculty, and staff.”

Students at UMBC take pride in their cultures, languages, and
traditions — and love sharing them with the campus community. One
popular annual event, PANGEA, is a cultural showcase celebration
organized by the student-led UMBC Cultural Showcase Board during Welcome
Week. The event centers on sharing food, dance, and traditions
important to the cultural and ethnic groups on campus as a way of
welcoming students and encouraging all to get involved.

Many students swim, run, bat, or kick their way through college. At
UMBC, international athletes are an important part of the athletic
culture, sharing their world-class skills in a welcoming environment
while preparing for the next level of their athletic career. For some
that means Olympic level.

Mohamed Hussein ’14, mechanical engineering, M.S. ’16, engineering management, represented UMBC in swimming and diving for three seasons and was part of the Egyptian swim team in the 2016 Olympics. Cleopatra Borel ’02, interdisciplinary studies,
was an NCAA women’s shot put champion and has participated in four
Olympic games as a member of the Trinidad and Tobago track and field
team. This year there are 375 student athletes on campus, and nearly 10%
are international athletes.

“I thought it was impossible to find a home away from Cairo, but the support I get from my teammates and my [swimming] coach, Chad Cradock ’97, gives me so much energy and power to be my best self in the pool and in real life, too,” says Hania Moro ’19, financial economics,
who holds an Egyptian National Record in the 400 free, and last year
came in first place for the Retrievers in the 500 and 1650 free.

Learning Without Borders

LEARNING TO LISTEN: As a travel photographer and writer for National Geographic, BBC, and Lonely Planet, among others, Lola Akinmade Akerstrom ’98, M.S. ’02, information systems,
learns from every new job she takes and every new person she meets.
But, coming to America from Nigeria to study at UMBC taught her
invaluable skills that deeply changed the way she looks at the world. Read Lola’s full story.

Cultural and social engagements are just the beginning of UMBC’s
global mindset. The core of understanding the roots of the world’s most
pressing problems begins with conversations between people with
different perspectives. When research crosses international boundaries,
the sky’s the limit.

Tim Nohe, professor of visual arts and director of
the Center for Innovation, Research, and Creativity in the Arts (CIRCA),
embraces international research opportunities. In 2016, he shared ten
years of his research on globalization in Botany Bay, Australia, which
he completed as a Fulbright Senior Scholar fellow. This semester, via
CIRCA, he hosted a visiting scholar from Nanyang Technological
University School of Art, Design, and Media, and connected her with
assistant professor of linguistics and French Renée Lambert-Brétière.

“International research welcomes a space to meet people that you
wouldn’t in your regular day. Those personal touches last. You are never
the same person after that exchange,” says Nohe. “You are greater than
before by embracing these new social networks, affinity groups, and
professional connections that are incredible for your own personal
growth.”

The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) houses
many departments and programs that help students develop an
interdisciplinary way of understanding based on human and social
theories about world economies, internationalization, global education,
global environmental changes, communication, culture, and art
methodologies.

The Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication
(MLLI) department, which offers classes in 11 languages, helps students
understand language in a culturally appropriate context for work and
play. It also is the center of graduate studies for students who are
combining language work with issues of media, communication, education,
and diversity, including through the language, literacy, and culture
graduate program. Retrievers wanting a daily immersion experience to
prepare for future opportunities can be found sharpening their
intercultural skills with their peers and native language resident
mentors as residents in the Intercultural Living Exchange.

“I was a graduate student in MLLI. Both my graduate programs had many
international students. The department was all about studying cultures
all around the globe,” shares Romy Hübler ’09, modern languages
and linguistics, M.A. ’11, intercultural communication, Ph.D. ’15,
language, literacy, and culture. Hübler is a native of Germany who now serves as assistant director of the UMBC Center for Democracy and Civic Life.

A field trip to Baltimore’s Russian Festival.

“It helped me gain a greater understanding and had a big impact on
me. It made me want to explore some of the areas where other students
were from. I studied abroad in Spain and in Mexico.”

Attention to international viewpoints drives the Global Studies
program, an interdisciplinary major focusing on issues of
internationalization in the political, social, cultural, and economic
realms, both locally and in the world. Students from majors of all types
are part of this program.

Felipe Filomeno, assistant professor of political
science and global studies, came from Brazil and has made UMBC his
second home. In his Approaches to Globalization class, students engage
in critical questions about personal, local, and national identity and
how civic engagement can help influence government policies and create
more cosmopolitan communities. Last fall he took a class to the Russian
Festival hosted by the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in East
Baltimore, and his students also produced the Baltimore Intercultural
Calendar, which, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office, is set to
become the official calendar of festivals celebrating global cultures in
Baltimore city.

Culturally specific programs and departments like ancient studies,
Africana studies, and Asian studies, as well as courses in languages
such as Arabic also offer students an opportunity to specialize in a
unique global community. These options not only respond to the
constantly evolving world of academia, but also reflect the cultural
makeup of UMBC’s student body.

Tackling Global Challenges

The College of Engineering and Information Systems (COEIT) attracts
the majority of UMBC’s international students. It is also home to a
Global Engineering course specifically designed to meet the needs of
companies with offices around the world looking for employees that have
both the technical engineering skills and intercultural intelligence to
work with diverse groups.

Led by Marc Zupan, associate professor of mechanical
engineering, the course began in collaboration with the University of
Porto in Portugal and expanded to include La Universidad de Los Andes in
Colombia during mechanical engineering professor Chuck Eggleton’s
Fulbright experience there. Using video teleconference, teams across
three countries developed the intercultural and technical skills to
solve global engineering challenges with attention to localized issues.
Some students even had the chance to travel to Porto to meet their
Portuguese colleagues in person.

“The incubation for the Global Engineering course came several years
ago from our work with companies and agencies that hire our students and
them saying, ‘We love the students you send us. They are well-defined
engineers but they would be more effective if they had an international
experience,’” says Zupan. “The research also reported a low percentage
of engineering students going abroad. My goal was to reduce all barriers
by creating a class that aligned entirely with major requirements and
employer needs so students could take advantage of the depth of learning
that happens when you incorporate other cultures, languages, and
physical locations.”

In
the last decade, UMBC has helped 51 Fulbright recipients travel and
learn around the world. Pictured: UMBC’s 2018 Fulbright awardees.

UMBC’s Grand Challenge Scholars Program, based on the National
Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering, was brought
to UMBC by Marie desJardins, former associate dean of COEIT. It is now led by professor of the practice Maria Sanchez,
director of Education and Outreach in COEIT. Students from all three
UMBC colleges develop an individualized course plan to gain the content
knowledge, technical skills, and a team-centered, interdisciplinary
approach needed to solve 14 challenges facing the world, such as access
to clean water, or an economical solution to solar energy.

“We want to deepen the global consciousness of faculty, staff, and
students. Today, intercultural IQ is an essential skill in engineering,”
says Sanchez, who collaborates with the International Education
Services Office to provide intercultural training to students. “Our goal
is to evolve Grand Challenges to not only be an interdisciplinary
program focused on solving pressing global engineering problems, but
also one that serves as a vehicle for students to understand their own
cultural awareness and how that influences the way they approach
problem-solving.”

Faculty in the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS)
are also engaged in numerous international collaborations. For example,
research by Kevin Omland, professor of biological
sciences, looks at the critically endangered Bahama Oriole in close
collaboration with the Bahamas National Trust. Through this experience
students learn field research skills specific to a unique setting and
culture and the importance of international collaboration in scientific
research.

All the Places You Will Go

Application. Application. Application. The true test of how much
students have learned is when they pack their bags and leave UMBC to
study abroad, work abroad in fellowships as teachers, or stay local and
engage with international communities.

In 1969, the late Walt Sherwin, professor of ancient studies and founding UMBC faculty; Jay Freyman, professor emeritus ancient studies; and Rudy Storch,
professor emeritus ancient studies, inaugurated the ancient studies
program and the first study abroad program at UMBC, Rome: Ancient and
Modern. The popular program continues to this day, engaging travelers in
research of ancient civilizations like China, Turkey, Greece, and, next
year, England.

The ANCS Study Tour visits the Lion Gates at the Hittite Capital of Hattusa, Turkey.

“The experiences I have had on several of these trips over the years
have significantly contributed to my understanding and appreciation of
different peoples and cultures, as well as their histories,” said Tessa Baumgartner ’05, ancient studies,
a doctor of osteopathic medicine in Arizona. “The trips have also
helped me understand my own culture better through an increased
understanding of how modern civilization has evolved from ancient ones.”

Today, students have access to affordable, credit-earning,
international learning opportunities in 33 countries thanks to the
International Education Services Office (IES), which serves as the hub
of all inbound and outbound international traffic. It provides
individualized support through innovative programming and wrap-around
support for: international students accepted to UMBC; students seeking
research, study, and teaching opportunities abroad; and faculty-led
study abroad courses. It also works with the Fulbright, Gilman, Boren,
Critical Language, and Haiyu programs that provide students research
opportunities abroad, as well as the You Are Welcome Here program which
supports international and refugee students.

“In the last ten years we have had 51 Fulbright recipients, with three students choosing other competitive options,” explains Brian Souders, Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy, and culture,
Fulbright Program advisor. “In general, we have gone from one to three
recipients a year to seven to eight annually over the past five years.”

Marc Schultz ’18, political science and global studies,
who is doing his Fulbright research in Chengdu, China, says his
greatest learning comes from daily interactions with locals and the
perspective they bring to his own life. “Although my Mandarin language
ability is far from flawless, people are patient and encouraging with
me, simply happy at the fact that I am trying to communicate with them
wholly in their language — for this I am incredibly grateful,
particularly knowing that many immigrants to the United States and other
western countries are not treated with the same level of patience and
kindness, even when their English is perfect but they have a foreign
accent.”

Faculty are also leading international courses, which have helped
students understand Muslim Tunisian immigrants in Sicily, Italian
politics, the evolution of the English language in Amsterdam,
engineering in Portugal and Colombia, and more — often collaborating
with faculty from other countries.

Milvia Hernandez, Spanish lecturer and coordinator
for Spanish Language Teaching in MLLI, leads a Spanish language
immersion course in Colombia at the Instituto de Idiomas, Universidad
del Norte in Barranquilla. Global studies majors sign up quickly for
this educational experience because of its intensive Spanish language
immersion and opportunities to volunteer with local school children and
their communities.

“Barranquilla is one of the cities Gabriel García Márquez called
home. It is Afro-Caribbean, Indigenous, and European, making it an ideal
place for living and studying a notably diverse and intercultural
population,” explains Hernandez.

Student Tenzin Yangchen wrote a series of blogs during her trip to Italy.

Maggie Holland, associate professor of geography and
environmental systems, led a course in sustainable development and
conservation in Costa Rica in 2014 that included students from six
different study areas. Two years later, Holland reached out to Lee Blaney, associate professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, and Matt Fagan,
assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, to co-teach
an interdisciplinary field class in Costa Rica. The course helps
students make the links between water, forests, climate change, and
people’s livelihoods (smallholder farmers) in the cloud forest region of
Monteverde.

Blaney later returned to Costa Rica with the UMBC chapter of
Engineers Without Borders to begin a clean water project for a small
community. Holland and Blaney are currently on sabbatical in Mozambique
and China, respectively, looking for new research opportunities for
students.

Global engagement is also local. The Shriver Center, UMBC’s portal
for service-learning opportunities and internships, offers students
opportunities to engage with local immigrant and refugee communities and
the organizations that serve them. For instance, through the College
JUMP program, UMBC students help 11thand 12th-grade refugees through the
college application process.

Students can also apply their skills locally through international
competitions like the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs
and Administration (NASPAA)-Batten Student Simulation Competition.
UMBC’s School of Public Policy participated in the competition for the
first time last year, completing a global pandemic simulation. Any
student interested in current world affairs can apply to be part of the
Model UN, or for those ready to test the professional waters, UMBC
offers access to GoinGlobal, an international internship search portal.

The Future of Global Commitment

Collaborations with the University of Limpopo and others means new research possibilities.

Over the last fifty years, advances in technology have made it
possible to forge seamless connections with people in the most remote
parts of the world. Advances in travel have created lifelong bonds
between researchers, students, and communities around the world. And the
willingness to cross borders, collaborate, celebrate, and innovate,
reminds us all about the significance of fighting intolerance.

Continuous collaboration is at the heart of all international
understanding. UMBC is conscious of the importance of a strong
commitment to partnerships to work on innovative research and create a
network of opportunities for applied learning. Official partnerships
that promote student and faculty research opportunities have been
established with the University of Porto, Portugal, and University of
Kassel, Germany, and three more have been added this past year with The
University of Limpopo, South Africa; Universidad de Piura, Peru; and
with South Korea.

On September 24, 2018, UMBC joined more than 100 universities, the
Association of Public Land Grant Universities (APLU), and the United
Nations in signing the first Declaration of University Global
Engagement, a commitment, “to educating students who can successfully
live and work in our globally connected world and change it for the
better.” The Declaration noted, “We are also committed to discovering,
producing, and sharing new solutions to the world’s most pressing
problems. These missions require of universities an openness to — and
engagement with — ideas, knowledge, and people from all parts of the
world.”

UMBC is now also one of 11 colleges and universities in the nation
participating in the American Council on Education’s 16th
Internationalization Laboratory cohort. The university will go through a
process of developing a multi-year plan to support continued growth in
international and global engagement initiatives while also reinforcing
our standing as one of the world’s top research universities.

David Di Maria, associate vice provost for
international education, is thrilled at the future of global commitment
at UMBC — and confident that we can help answer the world’s most
pressing challenges like climate change, cybersecurity, energy, gender
equity, global health, inequality, poverty, sustainable cities, and
water.

“The answers will come from communities, companies, and individuals
prepared to live and work effectively with individuals and groups whose
cultures, languages, nationalities, and worldviews differ from their
own,” he explains. “At UMBC we aspire to ensure all members of our
community have substantive opportunities to understand and engage with
the international and global dimensions of their academic disciplines
and increase our capacity to create powerful interconnected solutions
together.”